For the past 7 years, our staple Thanksgiving dessert has always been pumpkin pie. Yes, there was that taste-off in 2006 when we made a pumpkin pie and a sweet potato pie.

Well, the pumpkin pie won and it has been the dessert of choice ever since.

During Thanksgiving 2011, a mysterious combination of events occurred.

First, we found pecans at Walmart.

We’ve only seen these pecans at Walmart once. It was one of those buy it now because it will probably never be restocked type of products.

These pecans were pre-shelled and they did seem to have some salty flavoring, but we figured once we added the white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, butter, and eggs a little salt wouldn’t matter.

After we purchased the pecans another mysterious event occurred: Sara Beth shared a recipe for making homemade light corn syrup.

With those two items no longer an obstacle, I set off to make my first pecan pie thanks to Pioneer Woman’s tried and true recipe.

It was delicious and so incredibly sweet. After his second slice, Hubs proclaimed that I can only make this pie once a year.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2012… a year later.

We were once again able to find pecans at Walmart – only these were the Great Value brand and they remained in shell. Again, they tasted a little salty, but we knew that once the white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, butter and eggs were added a little salt wouldn’t matter.

Since pie slices can get messy and our local guests probably would not like the overly sweet American dessert, I made bite size portions.

On his second helping, Hubs proclaimed that the bite sized portions were the way to go. Yes, it does take time to create each individual pie crust, but the serving size was perfect for the sweetness involved.

12.23.12
When our club Christmas party rolled around, I knew I wanted to make something quick and easy. For some reason, Pecan Pie was on my mind. (I know! Twice in one year!)

Hubs graciously offered to shell the pecans while Schäfer watched Swiss Family Robinson. After all, we only needed 1 cup of pecans so it was not too painful – says the girl who rolled out the dough instead of shelling pecans.

As long as Walmart carries Great Value pecans, I’d say we can have two options for Thanksgiving dessert: pecan or pumpkin pie. Winners choice.

3. Pour chopped pecans in the bottom of the unbaked pie shell. For mini – pecan pies I place one or two pecans in each muffin round.

4. Pour syrup mixture over the top. Cover top and crust lightly/gently with foil. Bake pie at 350º for 30 minutes. Remove foil, then continue baking for 20 minutes, being careful not to burn the crust or pecans.

Pioneer Woman adds: PIE SHOULD NOT BE OVERLY JIGGLY WHEN YOU REMOVE IT FROM THE OVEN. If it shakes a lot, cover with foil and bake for an additional 20 minute or until set. Required baking time seems to vary widely with this recipe. Sometimes it takes 50 minutes; sometimes it takes 75!

Allow to cool for several hours or overnight. Serve in thin slivers.

Note: When I made a 9″ round pie in 2011, it cooked perfectly in the allotted time. When I made the mini-pies in 2012, I kept my eye on the oven because they cooked a little faster since they were smaller.